Monday, June 19, 2017

Deliverance

Our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins,
that he might deliver us from this present evil world,
according to the will of God and our Father. Gal 1:4

Paul always carried with him a very deep sense of the
will of God as the source and rule of all things. In five
of the Epistles, he speaks of himself as an apostle, "by 
the will of God." In this verse Paul shows how earnestly 
the Father desires our deliverance from the present evil 
world, through the sacrifice of His Son. Jesus Christ not 
only came to take away our sins but to deliver us out of 
this present world by freeing us from its spirit, and 
making us partakers of the life and the powers of the 
heavenly world. 

We sometimes hear of worldly Christians, and of a be-
lieving world, but there appears to be little awareness 
of the extent to which a worldly spirit pervades and 
weakens the Christian life. It is so difficult to exactly 
define or recognize the power of this influence. As a 
consequence of this, the power of Jesus Christ, and of 
faith in Him, overcoming the world, and proving that 
we are just as little of the world as He was, is little 
sought or even known.

Our Lord gave Himself that He might deliver us from 
this present evil world according to the will of God. 
Without ever being aware of it, the spirit of this world 
is present in all that surrounds us, to keep us busy and 
occupied. May God help us to inseparably connect the 
three blessed truths set before us here: 

the will of God, as the source;
Jesus giving Himself for us, as the means;
Deliverance from this present evil world as the mark 
and fruit of the great salvation. 

May He teach us that we are as little of this world as 
Jesus was, because we are one with Him

May the presence and power of the Son of God from 
heaven in our hearts, with its complete deliverance 
from  the worldly spirit, be known as the will of God 
for us.   Andrew Murray 

Reader, did you have any idea of just how many scrip-
tures teach on the will of God? In my ignorance I have
only called on Him for His will in the big decisions,
however, scripture, understood correctly, deals very
comprehensively on this subject. I don't particularly like
the words, 'surrender' and 'obedience,' but that is because
I want to do things my way. I don't really believe this
subject is all that important. And, I don't have the faith
to believe that Jesus is able to do it all through me!

Two great books are:
The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee
Lifetime Guarantee--Making your Christian Life work
    and what to do if it doesn't    by Bill Gillham

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